Cigar shaping method and apparatus



R. D. RESPESS Oct. 9, 1962 CIGAR SHAPING METHOD AND APPARATUS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 28, 1961 INVENTOR.

RICHARD D. RESPESS BY f g u ATTO RN EY Oct. 9, 1962 RESPESS 3,057,361

CIGAR SHAPING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. RICHARD D. RESPESS 1 M MW ATTORNEY United. Stas 3,057,361CIGAR SHAPENG MET H01) AND APPARATUS Richard I). Respess, Jacksonville,Fla, assignor to Jno. H. Swisher & Son, Inc, a corporation of Ohio FiledAug. 28, 19M, Ser. No. 134,469 4 Claims. (Cl. 131-79) This inventionrelates to a method and apparatus for shaping cigars and, moreparticularly, to the use of high frequency electro-magnetic energy inconjunction with the pressing and shaping of originally round cigars.

During the manufacture of cigars, the components are relatively moist sothat they can be manipulated Without cracking. Moisture is also presentin the paste used to hold the wrapper in place. After issuing from themachines on which they are made, the cigars, then damp and moderatelysoft to the touch, particularly around the heads, are preliminarily agedfor a period to permit the moisture to distribute uniformly through thecigar, which has the effect of setting the paste, and the cigar assumesa normal firmness. The total moisture content of the cigars is closelycontrolled during manufacture and, while a slight loss of total moistureoccurs during the preliminary aging, it is not desired that the moistureloss during this or subsequent shaping and packaging operations begreat, since otherwise the cigars would seem dry, brittle and unfresh tothe smoker. As an example, when cigars are manufactured, the moisturecontent of the wrapper is about 26%, the binder 22% to 24%, and thefiller, which constitutes the bulk of the cigar, about 15% to 16%. It isdesired to have an overall moisture content of about 16%, distributedevenly throughout the cigars. The preliminary aging, immediately aftermanufacture, permits the moisture contained in a cigar to distributesubstantially evenly throughout the cigars, most of the excess moisturein the wrapper and binder being absorbed in the filler.

After the cigars are banded and wrapped by automatic machinery, theygenerally are packed in boxes with the brand or large portion of theband upright. In order to facilitate placement of the cigars in the boxso that the brand sides of the bands are uppermost and uniformlydisplayed, the cigars are generally squared or shaped with somewhatflattened sides following the preliminary aging process, and prior tofeeding to the automatic banding and wrapping machines. The brand sidesof the bands may thus be always applied to a flattened side of thecigars, and it is easy for a packer to place rows of the wrapped andbanded cigars uniformly in a box so that the brand sides of the wrappersall face upwardly.

Heretofore, the preliminarily aged cigars were squared by fitting rowsof them in open-top dummy boxes, and then forcing down and clamping abox lid so that the cigars were compressed downwardly. This provided thecigars with flattened upper and lower surfaces, and the lateral thrustresulting from the tendency to squash out sidewise against one anotherprovided flattened side surfaces. After being compressed for abouttwenty-four hours in the dummy boxes, the corners of the cigars remainsomewhat rounded, but the shape was near enough to a square orrectangular, in cross-section, so that the cigars would feed, withoutrolling around, on walking or reciprocating conveyors to and from thebanding and wrapping machines, and the orientation recited above wasfacilitated. Pressing the cigars enhances their appearance, and manycustomers prefer the square shape.

Increasing labor costs have prompted critical examination of the dummybox method of squaring and, in addition, it, being essentially a batchmethod of materials handling, is incompatible with the prior andsubsequent straight-line conveyor techniques which characterize themanufacturing and packaging procedures.

Patented Oct. 9, 1962 ice Previous approaches to the solving of this, amajor manufacturing problem, have generally entailed the use of heat, inone form or another, in conjunction with ironing, pressing or moldingthe cigars. When hot pressure plates, hot belt presses or molds weretried, however, it was found that moisture was driven from the cigar inintolerable quantities, and the Wrapper sweated and cooked. Attempts atshaping with steam irons or presses resulted in discoloration of thewrapper. Drying of tobacco products by the use of a high frequencydielectric heater was also known (Riegger US. Patent 2,737,955).

According to this invention, cigars are quickly shaped in a pressbetween the plates of a highfrequency dielectrio machine without theproduction of appreciable overall heat within the cigars, Withoutappreciable loss of moisture, and with no sweating or cooking of thewrapper. While the phenomena occurring within the cigars are notcompletely understood, it appears that the high frequency energy, actingon the tobacco fibers, gives them a new set. The theory believed toexplain the process is that originally the fibers were orientedpredominantly in the planes of the leaves or sheets in which they grewor were formed; when the bunch was compressed and the binder wrapperapplied, the fibers were bent, but they, in aggregate, lay undertension. A feature of this invention is to apply sufficient energy tothe tobacco fibers to relieve the tension under which they wouldotherwise be maintained, and permit them to assume a new set in theposition or bend to which they are forced by mechanical pressuresimultaneously applied.

A more specific object is the provision of a continuously operatingpress including parallel belt runs through which the cigars are fed andcompressed, and a pair of spaced plates or electrodes of a dielectrichigh frequency generator respectively disposed above and below the beltruns. With this arrangement, it is intended to apply enough mechanicalcompression by means of the belts to produce the desired flatness of theupper and lower surfaces of the cigars, but with not so much pressurethat the cigars will be cracked or split. By feeding the cigarsconsecutively so that they lie close to one another as they pass betweenthe belt runs, it is intended to ultilize an observed squash-out effectto produce somewhat flattened opposite side surfaces as the result ofthe lateral thrusts of the cigars against one another. In order toobtain this result with the former dummy box" method, it was necessaryto confine the cigars laterally between the opposite sides of the box,whereas, following the present technique, it has been found that nolateral confinement, other than that produced by the cigars themselves,is necessary.

These and other objects will be apparent from the followingspecification and drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical longitudinal cross section along the line 1-1 ofFIG. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 2 is a vertical transverse cross-section along the line 2--2 ofFIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

PEG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-section, diagrammatic andfragmentary, illustrating the lateral expansion of cigars which forcesadjacent sides thereof against one another.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals denotesimilar elements, the press 2 is of the well-known endless belt type,and comprises a frame 4 with legs 6, spaced uprights 8 and 10 connectedat their tops by cross-members 12. Lower cross pieces 14 and 16 areprovided at suitable locations for transversely bracing and tying theframe together, and for supporting back-up members described below.Rollers 18 and 20 having shafts 22 and 24 supported in 3 pillow blocks26 are disposed at each end of frame 4 f an endless belt 28 whose upperrun 30 is horizontal. The belts are formed of flexible material havingreasonably good insulating properties.

Vertically adjustable supports 32 suspend a chassis 34 in the upperportion of frame 4. A chassis and suspension, generally similar to thoseshown in the patent to Dalrimple 1,503,034 have been selected forpurposes of illustration, there being a pair of vertical rectangles 36and a horizontal rectangle 38 rigidly connected together. A pair ofpillow blocks 42 at each end of the chassis support shafts 44 and 46 ofrollers 48 which, in turn, support an endless belt 50 whose lower run 52is parallel to the upper run 30 of belt 28. Common drive gearing and amotor, diagrammatically indicated at 54 and 56 are provided for rollershafts 18 and 44 so that rollers 18 and 48 are both driven in thedirections indicated by arrows in FIG. 1. The press as thus fardescribed is conventional, and may partake of various forms consistentwith the following features believed to be novel.

Beneath the upper run 30 of belt 28 and above the lower run 52 of belt50 are disposed back-up plates 58, 58, respectively, of insulatingmaterial. The ends of back-up plate 58 are mounted on the lower crossmembers 60 of chassis 34, whose upper cross members 40 are suspendedfrom the upper portion of frame 4. The entire chassis 34, includingback-up plate 58, rollers 48 and belt 50 may thus be vertically adjustedwith respect to the lower back-up plate 58 and, of course, belt run 30which slides thereon. Mounted within recesses 62 in the back-up plates,so as to prevent contact by operating personnel, are electrodes 64, 64'of a high frequency generator 66 whose leads 68, 70 are respectivelyconnected to electrodes 64, 64'.

In operation, initially round cigars 76 are fed onto belt run 30 from afeeder, diagrammatically indicated at 78. Chassis 3'4 is adjusted sothat belt runs 30 and 52 are spaced from one another a distance somewhatless than the initial diameters of the cigars so that flattened top andbottom surfaces 82 and 84 form against the belt runs. When the cigarsare compressed vertically, they expand laterally so that the sides 84 ofadjacent cigars are pressed and somewhat flattened against one another,as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 3. Suitable auxiliary back-upmembers, such as plate 86, may be provided to ensure that the cigarswill be engaged and held between the belt runs.

As the cigars, compressed to the desired shape by the belt runs, passbetween electrodes 64, 64, they pass through the high frequency fieldcreated therebetween. It has been found that a generated frequency ofabout 27 megacycles produces the optimum results. In earlier experimentsusing lower frequencies, such as megacycles and below, the cigars tendedto scorch and, in some instances, sweat excessively. In experimentalruns with a machine of "the type herein described, using a 27 megacyclegenerator, it was found that relatively little power (in the range of0.55 to 0.6 amp.) was consumed, and exposure of the cigars tohigh-frequency field for only a comparatively short length of time wasrequired for the cigars to achieve a fixed set in the shape in whichthey were held during exposure, i.e., with flattened tops, bottoms andsides. The heat generated within the cigars was used as an index ofexposure to the high frequency field. Measurements made immediatelyafter passing cigars through the press denoted internal temperatures ofF. to F.

Cigars run through the press when the RR generator was off came out withsquared shapes, but they quickly resumed their initial roundness after afew minutes, whereas cigars run through with the generator on remainedsquares.

The invention is not limited to the details of the apparatus and methoddisclosed herein, but is intended to cover all substitutions,modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A process for forming four flattened sides on cigars, whichcomprises: transporting a series of said cigars in close side-by-siderelationship between two substantially flat parallel surfaces moving inthe same direction and spaced apart a distance less than the initialdiameters of the cigars so as to compress the cigars in a directiontransverse to the lengths thereof and normal to the planes of saidsurfaces and thereby causing said cigars to expand transversely to saiddirection and compress adjacent sides of said cigars against oneanother; passing a high frequency dielectric field transversely throughsaid cigars; and maintaining said cigars under said compression and insaid field until the cigars attain a new set.

2. A process for forming four flattened sides on initially round cigars,which comprises: transporting a series of said cigars in closeside-by-side relationship between two substantally flat parallelsurfaces moving in the same direction and spaced apart a distance lessthan the initial diameters of the cigars, so as to compress the cigarsin a direction transverse to the lengths thereof and normal to theplanes of said surfaces and thereby causing said cigars to expandtransversely to said direction and to compress adjacent sides of saidcigars against one another; passing a high frequency dielectric fieldtransversely through the cigars; and maintaining said cigars under saidcompression and in said field until the interiors of the cigars arecharacterized by a temperature of the order of 90 F. to 115 -F.

3. In an apparatus for flattening normally round cigars, a press havinga pair of substantially flat parallel belt runs each having a workingface on one side and a nonworking face on the other side, means formaintaining the working faces of said belt runs spaced apart from oneanother a distance less than the initial diameters of the cigars, saidmeans including back-up members respectively engaging the non-workingfaces of the belt runs, said back-up members being formed of insulatingmaterial, a high frequency electronic generator, and a pair ofelectrodes respectively supported on the back-up members andrespectively engaging the non-working faces of the belt runs.

4. The combination claimed in claim 3, said backup members comprisingsubstantially flat plates, said electrodes being substantially fiatplates having marginal edges disposed inwardly of the marginal edges ofsaid back-up members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

